1919 British race riots
{{Short description|Historical event}}
A number of race riots occurred in Britain between January and August 1919, with sporadic recurrences in 1920 and 1921. They marked a significant moment when the presence of minority ethnic people living in the country, including long-time residents and war veterans, came to public attention.
The demobilization of troops after World War I had led to intense post-war job competition. The perception that foreigners were taking away jobs became a trigger for the rioting and attacks on black and minority ethnic communities, especially in British port cities.{{cite web |author=National Archives |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/1919-race-riots/ |title=1919 race riots: How significant a factor was race in the riots of 1919? |accessdate=July 2, 2023}}
In the ports of South Shields,{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/roots/2003/10/arabontyne.shtml|title=BBC - Tyne Roots - Black History Month - The story behind Britain's first race riot|website=BBC|access-date=11 September 2023}} Glasgow, London's East End, Salford, Hull, Liverpool, Cardiff, Barry and Newport there were race riots targeting ethnic minority populations. Over the course of the riots there were five fatalities, as well as widespread vandalism of property.
Events
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In January, violence broke out in Glasgow over a perception that black sailors were "being given the preference in signing on for a ship about to sail", and the belief that they would accept lower wages to do so.{{cite news |last1=Staveley-Wadham |first1=Rose |title=1919 Race Riots |publisher= The British Newspaper Archive Blog |url=https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2022/10/26/the-1919-race-riots-in-britain/ |access-date=4 March 2025 |date=26 October 2022}} Thirty African sailors were chased through the streets of Glasgow by a crowd of hundreds,{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Craig |title=Remembering the 'Broomielaw Race Riot' of 1919 - one of Glasgow's ugliest days |url=https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/history/one-of-glasgows-ugliest-days-15683417 |access-date=3 March 2025 |work=Glasgow Live |date=22 January 2019 |language=en}} with the Dundee Evening Telegraph reporting that one black sailor had shot and injured a white seaman, one of three injuries sustained during the riot.
During a week of rioting in Liverpool in June, 120 black workers were sacked in Liverpool after whites refused to work with them. That same month, a mob of 200 or 300 white people chased black former sailor Charles Wotten to Liverpool's Queen's Dock and killed him there.{{cite news |last1=Graham |first1=Patrick |title=Sailor murdered in race riots finally gets memorial plaque |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/sailor-murdered-race-riots-over-27074144 |access-date=3 March 2025 |work=Liverpool Echo |date=8 June 2023 |language=en}} The 40 police officers responding to the event were initially overpowered by the crowd, with one being shot in the mouth.
File:Cardiff race riots.jpg, 19 June 1919]]
A day after Wotten's death, the Sunday Pictorial reported on "fierce racial riots" in Newport, Wales, which spread to Cardiff and Barry over the following week. At least three men died during the Wales riots.{{cite news |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/race-riots-cardiff-1919-butetown-16428953 |title=The notorious Race Riots of 1919 in Cardiff that shamed Wales |work=Wales Online |last=Mohammed |first=Aamir |date=16 June 2019 |access-date=13 June 2020}}
Later the same month, a shop in Cable Street, east London was attacked by a crowd of 3,000 people. The shop, which was "kept by an Arab", had become targetted after stories had been circulating that "some white girls had been seen to enter the house". The occupants were escorted away from the property by police.
Analysis
A modern study of the 1919 riots by Jacqueline Jenkinson showed that police arrested nearly twice as many blacks (155) as whites (89). While most of the whites were convicted, nearly half of Black arrestees were acquitted. Jenkinson suggests that the courts acknowledged their innocence and were recognising and attempting to correct for police bias.{{cite book |last1=Jenkinson |first1=Jacqueline |title=Black 1919: Riots, Racism and Resistance in Imperial Britain |date=2009 |doi=10.2307/j.ctt5vjd9g.10 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5vjd9g.10 |access-date=3 March 2025 |publisher=Liverpool University Press}}
References
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{{OGL-attribution|{{cite web |author=National Archives |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/1919-race-riots/ |title=1919 race riots: How significant a factor was race in the riots of 1919? |accessdate=July 2, 2023}} }}
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Category:Race riots in the United Kingdom
Category:1919 in the United Kingdom
Category:20th century in Kingston upon Hull
category:Racism in the United Kingdom
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